Re: Let's start with the assumption that I am right!

I have been rather quite on these threads about Buddhist
countries and who is right, etc.

I have lived in Japan for quite some time, though hardly as
long as some people I know. We sometimes get into
discussions about how to reach the Japanese people with the
gospel and so on and so forth. I would say first off that
it is all very easy to talk, but very hard to see the way.
At a practical level, whatever you might know about Buddhism,
you're unlikely to reach many people here.

So you have to ask yourself sometimes, what are you doing
here believing in Christ where 99% of the people just don't?

The core issues are really quite different in Japan than
in Tibet. Japan is a developed country to the extreme now,
and quite successful. Young folk are often just as spoiled
and materialistic as in good old USA and probably a lot of other
places in the world, though I cannot say for sure since
I haven't lived elsewhere for any substantial time to see.

Still, there is that nagging question all the same. How can I
claim "I am right"?

Well, frankly, I'll have enough difficulty reaching anyone here
if I am honest, but I'll surely I will have even less success if I talk
this way around here.

With the issue of ultimate reality, there just isn't some
sure fire way to know the right way. That is really the
thing that makes the whole issue faith so hard sometimes.
If any of my words have in some way touched some lives and
changed a heart or two, it was something divine in the workings
of the holy spirit, for how can I, a mere man, reach hearts so
hard and experiences so different without God's help. It is
simply not going to be a matter solved by any rational argument.

Basically, what you have, is two vastly different belief systems.
One claims that we have one chance, and all our deeds are
recorded on a master hard drive in the sky. The other claims
that we all carry around a floppy disk with all our deeds
recorded. The status on the disk determines whether you
go up or down.

Also, consider that everyone (Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, and
likely other religions) claims that their writings match with modern
science. And with Buddhism, since the number of books are in
the thousands, I'm sure something can be found somewhere to
support anything.

Then we have the atheists who claim there is nothing of ultimate
reality, so even Buddhism is an illusion.

Yes, we can claim some things on karma etc. But you can be
sure that there are answers to that. Just as Christians
have debated matters of faith, should anyone think that
Buddhist have not wondered about anything before?

So I don't think we really can get anywhere talking science.
They have their own reasons for believing that this is the
way things are, and they also use science to support it.

I begin to see to some extent, that perhaps St. Augustine
is right; that we only come to faith by Grace. We cannot
get there on our own power. I am quite troubled about the
implications, but there doesn't seem to be much of a clear
way around it either.

So frankly, I think we are stuck in a dilemma. We have
no way to know for sure what ultimate reality really is.
We trust in the scripture because somehow, by way of
undeserved Grace, we came to faith. And, we can only _hope_
that through the faith we have, somehow, it will reach
others, that they will be saved. But how do we know we
are right? Well, I guess we simply don't know, except by
faith.

So indeed Glenn, you are right. We are finally left with a bunch of
flimsy assumptions that are probably little different from other religions.
But whereas I can offer reasons for why I believe in God, and I think
some of them are quite rational, I would find it difficult to defend
scripture
solely on any of my reasons.

Indeed, I don't expect any of my honesty to win many converts.
It is so much easier to say "I ___KNOW___ the Truth" and
then slaughter lots of human lives in one way or another
(death, slander, politics, humiliation, etc.) to demonstrate just
how much truth I really know. That is the power politics of
YEC organizations, and to a lesser extent, some OECs also work
this way. But finally, I have to ask myself "who knows anything
with such certainty"?
   
Honesty is what the follower of Christ should carry
as a sword, and righteousness as a shield. Let the word
of God that is in us do the work of its own, as Christ
works in us, and somehow, by Grace and Mercy of God alone,
some at least will see Jesus in us if God has used us. That is all
we can hope to do, in my humble opinion, and at least the
genuineness that flows from us, will be the genuineness that
flows from them too, should the spirit be reaching them.

By Grace and Mercy we proceed,
Wayne
Received on Sun Jun 4 12:07:59 2006